The Quest for a Healthier Family: Deodorant

Yes, we are devoting an entire blog post to the stuff you put under your arm pits! Several years ago Dr. Andrew came home from chiropractic school and decided we needed to throw away all of our deodorant and replace it with healthier options. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with my Dove deodorant! I smelled good, so it must be working. So my sweet husband explained to me that my Dove deodorant wasn’t simply a deodorant–it was an antiperspirant, as in “the opposite of sweating.” But who likes to sweat? I still wasn’t seeing the problem here.

He went on to explain that sweating is a natural process your body goes through to remove toxins. If your body isn’t able to sweat, toxins back up into your lymph nodes. This is one of the proposed mechanisms for an increased risk of breast cancer. Hold on. Did he just use the “c” word? I have a strong family history of breast cancer. Dr. Andrew had my attention.

The more I listened, the more I learned. Most of America is using antiperspirants that contain dozens of ingredients that are being absorbed by the skin. One of the biggest issues is aluminum, a neurotoxin. He told me to check out the Skin Deep website, a project of the Environmental Working Group that does independent research on tens of thousands of unregulated products, to gain a better understanding of what I was putting on my skin (and ultimately in my body). Go ahead, type your deodorant in and see what’s up! (And I’ll give you a hint: higher numbers do not mean that your product is more favorable!)

So I knew I wasn’t putting the safest stuff on my skin, but what was the solution? I went to our local health foods store in Texas, and I picked up deodorant (not antiperspirant) for both of us. After a couple of days, we were quickly realizing that it was masking our lovely body odor, and by the end of the day our coworkers and classmates didn’t really want to be around us. I refused to smell, so we tried another two or three brands with similar results. Finally one of his classmates told him about crystal deodorant stones, and they worked (about 95% of the time, unless you were sweating really badly, but I’d take that any day over what we had been using!).

Fast forward about a year, and I learned that even the crystal deodorant stones contain aluminum! So I was back at square one. Well, not entirely. The aluminum content was much less, so I decided to call it a “trade-off”–less aluminum in a product that worked was better than no aluminum in a product that didn’t. And then in May, our family went to Dallas to visit Dr. Andrew’s chiropractic twin brother and his family, and they told us about a new deodorant they had found for Dodge Family Chiropractic made of mostly organic ingredients. We said we would check it out, but we went into the trial period very skeptically.

Two days in, I was sold. The next day, Dr. Andrew had me smell his armpits because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to smell his own “fragrance,” and I obliged for the sake of really testing this product (yes, go ahead and giggle at the site of my nose pressed into his armpit!). Nothing. He had no smell. And then he dropped the bomb: earlier in the day when I had put Luke down for a nap, he went for a run. And then lifted weights. I was very glad I didn’t have this information prior to the “smell test,” as I may have backed out!

We weren’t ready to sound the trumpets yet, so we enlisted my mom for a trial too! She is Staunton’s personal training extraordinaire–I couldn’t think of a single person who sweats more on a daily basis who would be 100% honest with us. She told me she would try it out, but her Secret antiperspirant was still going to work in her bag with her just in case. She carries the same family history of breast cancer that I do, so she has wanted to like every natural product I’ve brought to her, but nothing has stood up to her job description. The verdict?

I run, I teach cycling classes, I teach Pilates classes, and body sculpting classes. I sweat! I’ve been using Primal Pit Paste for about a week and a half and it controls my body odor without all the harsh chemicals from regular deodorants. I’m a believer, and I’ve switched to Primal Pit Paste.

Jolene Swann, personal trainer

So after about a month’s worth of trials, just waiting for this stuff to fail us, we have been proven wrong. We are happy to say that we are using a deodorant that is so natural that we could eat it (not that we want to!), AND it actually works! And we are even happier to bring this awesome product in-house: by mid-July we will have a variety of scents available locally at Valley Family Wellness & Chiropractic! For questions or to preorder, please contact us, and for more information on Primal Pit Paste, please visit their website!

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thechiropracticwife has known Dr. Andrew for much longer than he has been a doctor! She supports his goals of a healthy lifestyle for their family and offers a mother's perspective on incorporating these choices into daily family life! You can find her at Valley Family Wellness & Chiropractic behind the front desk with their children Luke and Josie.

Comments

Nicole,
I knew you were a gifted writer, now I know you have another talent: “arm pit sniffer”. LOL, just kidding! Let me know when you get this product in your office. I will buy some for Chip and I.
Thanks!
Suzanne

Let me know when it comes in because I would love to try it. I have tried several aluminum free alternatives but I have a skin reaction to them all and now I’m back using the bad stuff. Now I’m on the hunt for one that keeps me smelling good and doesn’t break me out and burn!